Residents fight idea of I-440 interchange at Granny White Pike

But TDOT says no plans for I-440 link to Granny White

Dec. 31, 2013

Cory and Beth Short are among neighborhood residents opposed to a proposal to build an interchange at Granny White Pike and I-440 to ease traffic congestion on Hillsboro Pike. / Tom Stanford / The Tennessean

Written by

Josh Brown

The Tennessean

Caleb Hemmer’s house on Gale Lane sits just feet away from state-owned land alongside Interstate 440 where it runs under Granny White Pike in Nashville.

The property has been in state hands since at least the 1970s, when the Tennessee Department of Transportation was preparing to build the parkway that loops through the southern part of the city.

But when Hemmer heard Metro planners were considering recommending that an I-440 interchange be built there to relieve traffic congestion on Hillsboro Pike, he bristled at the thought of an on-ramp so close to his home.

“I think that’s what scared most of the people, is that it would dramatically change the neighborhood landscape,” Hemmer said. “Half of my backyard is TDOT property.”

In recent months, Metro planners have been looking at the recommendations from a 2011 study by a group of city and state officials, businesses and residents in the Green Hills neighborhood to find ways to improve transportation in the residential and business district.

The planners wanted to adopt some of the ideas into the long-term transportation plan designed to fix traffic congestion and growth woes there.

Among the ideas — which included redirecting some roads to reduce the number of traffic lights on Hillsboro Pike — was the plan for an interchange at Granny White.

Scores of people showed up at a Metro Planning Department event in October that presented findings from the study. Many expressed concerns over the idea of the interchange.

While some of the ideas from the study could be implemented by Metro, the interchange would need support from the state. State and local officials indicated that won’t happen anytime soon.

“TDOT currently has no plans to construct an interchange on I-440 at Granny White Pike,” spokeswoman B.J. Doughty wrote in an email.

Although TDOT had acquired the land there to use for a possible interchange, the agency abandoned those plans after an environmental document recommended against them during the construction of Interstate 440, Doughty said.

The department had been communicating with Metro planners on the steps needed to resurrect such a plan, she said. A new study would have to be done, looking at how the project could happen, and sign-offs would have to come from both the Federal Highway Administration and the Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.

In short, it would be complicated.

“Without further studies and design work, it’s impossible to say whether the existing (right of way) would be adequate for the construction of a project like this,” Doughty wrote. “I think it’s also important to note that TDOT currently has an $8 billion backlog of projects in the ‘pipeline’ that are awaiting funding.”

MPO spokeswoman Mary Beth Ikard also confirmed by email that the group has no plans to pursue the idea.

Words aren't enough

Still, those words aren’t comfort enough to scores of residents in and around the 12th Avenue South/Granny White Pike corridor, said Hemmer, a health care product developer. They want no mention of the idea in any official document.

“The neighbors were prepared to take that fight on to the Metro Planning Commission,” Hemmer said. “The neighbors have been very vocal and organized in their opposition.”

Last month, Metro planners decided to delay adoption of a long-term transportation plan after receiving lots of feedback about the controversial idea. Planning officials expect to take up the issue again no earlier than February.

While Metro planners have told residents in recent weeks that the interchange idea won’t be included in the adoption of the plan, Hemmer said residents will feel a lot better once it’s not included in the final product.